The Los Angeles Lakers updated their injury report for Thursday night’s game against the Miami Heat and LeBron James (left foot arthritis), Luka Doncic (right hip soreness) and Austin Reaves (right forearm contusion) are all available to play after originally being listed as questionable
This comes as a bit of a surprise as the Lakers are in the second night of a back-to-back after beating the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night. According to reports, the Lakers didn’t land in Miami until 5 a.m. local time, making for a very short turnaround to Thursday night’s game.
James will now be playing in his fifth straight game for the Lakers since missing three straight due to a right hip contusion and left foot arthritis. The Lakers won all three of those games he missed, as well as the four since he’s returned, as they are currently on a season-high seven-game win streak.
James and Doncic were both outstanding in the Lakers’ win over the Rockets. James finished with 30 points on a ridiculous 13-of-14 shooting from the field. The 41-year old had six dunks and three alley-oops on the night, but also took a hard fall and landed on his elbow late in the game.
In the locker room after the game, LeBron was seen with an ice pack on that elbow as well as both knees, mentioning that he felt good during the game, but not nearly as well after.
Doncic went off for 40 points with nine rebounds and 10 assists and while he also didn’t come out of it feeling 100%, he and Reaves will attempt to give it a go as well.
Even though the Lakers’ stars will suit up, them being banged up could give an opportunity for other players to step up with Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, Rui Hachimura and Luke Kennard all potentially playing key roles.
The Lakers will be looking to extend their win streak against a Heat squad looking to right their ship after two consecutive losses. But before that, they had won seven straight and remain an extremely dangerous opponent, especially if Bam Adebayo returns to action as expected, to join the high-powered backcourt of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell.
LeBron James clarifies involvement in Las Vegas expansion team
With a vote on potential NBA expansion into Las Vegas and Seattle set to take place soon, it makes sense that James gets mentioned as he has spoken openly about his desire to own an NBA franchise once he retires. But it looks like that isn’t in the cards at the moment.
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